We, the undersigned organizations and individuals are writing to express our deepest concern about the safety of Afro-Colombian and indigenous leaders, labor activists and human rights defenders. On November 13, 2012 the Black Eagles paramilitary group circulated a death threat that included various Afro-Colombian and human rights groups. Among the groups listed was the Association for Internally Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES). On December 1, 2012 a prominent IDP activist and member of AFRODES, Miller Angulo, was murdered in Tumaco. In 2010, three similar death threats were issued by this group and Jair Murillo, a displaced leader in Buenaventura associated with AFRODES was killed.

The lack of an effective response on the part of the Colombian government to AFRODES’s multiple requests for protection measures for a group of 22 of its leaders led 30 AFRODES members to engage in an act of civil disobedience on December 8, 2012 at an event where Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon was present.

In addition to AFRODES, the November 13, 2012 death threat targets key Afro-Colombian community councils, women, IDP and grassroots organizations in Choco, Cauca and Valle del Cauca. The paramilitaries target the community councils of Consejo Comunitario General de San Juan (ACADESAN), Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Organization Popular Campesina del Alto Atrato (COCOMOPOCA) and Consejos Comunitarios y Organizaciones del Bajo Atrato (ASCOBA). The Asociacion de Desplazados dos de Mayo (ADOM), survivors of the Bojaya massacre, and the Asociacion de Familiares de la Violencia Política de Riosucio, survivors of Operation Genesis, are among the victims groups mentioned. Prominent Afro-Colombian women’s organizations including the Association of Women of Northern Cauca (ASOM) and ASOMANUAFROYO, the Afro-Colombian women’s organization of La Toma (Cauca) are listed. Clemencia Carabali and Francia Marquez, who belong to these two organizations, were recently featured in the PBS Series Women, War and Peace’s “The War We Are Living” Episode that aired on public television in November 2011.

Non-Afro-Colombian individuals and groups are also threatened including IDP expert Marco Romero, President, of the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES); the Political Prisoner Solidarity Committee (FSCPP); the Colectivo de Abogados Jose Alvear Restrepo (CCAJAR); the League of Displaced Women (Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas), the National Victims Movement (MOVICE); INDEPAZ; Asociacion MINGA, the trade union SINALTRAINAL and the Association of Indigenous Cabildos of Northern Cauca (ACIN). In recent years, several members of SINALTRAINAL, MOVICE and ACIN have been intimidated, persecuted and murdered.

We strongly urge you to intervene to prevent further deaths from taking place by doing as follows:

-Issuing a public statement on behalf of the U.S. government that strongly condemns the murders and death threats against human rights defenders including Afro-Colombians, labor and human rights activists. This statement should express the U.S. government’s full support of the vital work done by these organizations and how their efforts help to further human rights, labor rights, democracy and peace in Colombia.-Urging Colombia’s Protection Unit to immediately provide adequate and effective protective measures to the 22 members of AFRODES who have solicited measures. The Embassy should monitor the security situation for AFRODES’s leaders in Bogota and its regional offices closely. Your visit to AFRODES’s national office in Bogota to meet with its leadership is strongly encouraged. -Making the protection of Afro-Colombian, indigenous, human rights, labor and IDP leaders a priority issue in your engagement with high level officials within the Colombian government. The U.S. and Colombia should work together to determine how best to improve public policies, programs and full implementation of Constitutional Court Decisions 004 and 005 on Afro-Colombians and indigenous displaced communities so as to prevent further deaths from taking place. -Guaranteeing the full implementation of the protection related commitments found in the U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan and that Colombia fully upholds its obligations with regard to the human rights conditions tied to receipt of U.S. military assistance.